Aric Almirola fastest in final Cup practice at Texas
Stewart-Haas Racing teammates completed a sweep of Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway.
In Friday’s final 50-minute session, SHR driver Aric Almirola topped the speed chart with an average lap speed of 188.561 mph. Denny Hamlin was second (188.350 mph) and SHR teammate Clint Bowyer was third (188.258 mph).
Bowyer also was fastest in Friday’s first practice. SHR teammate Kevin Harvick ended up fourth and Kurt completed the top-five.
Rounding out the top-10 single-car speeds were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr.
About 20 minutes into the session, a caution was displayed as Timmy Hill’s No. 66 Toyota stalled on pit road. Practice resumed a few minutes later.
Bowyer had the fastest average speed (187.267 mph) among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps. Harvick and Hamlin were second and third, respectively, in that category.
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 |  Aric Almirola |
Ford | 50 | 28.638 | 188.561 | |||
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
Toyota | 36 | 28.670 | 00.032 | 00.032 | 188.350 | |
| 3 | 14 | Clint Bowyer |
Ford | 48 | 28.684 | 00.046 | 00.014 | 188.258 | |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |
Ford | 51 | 28.738 | 00.100 | 00.054 | 187.905 | |
| 5 | 1 | Kurt Busch |
Chevrolet | 46 | 28.760 | 00.122 | 00.022 | 187.761 | |
| 6 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
Ford | 36 | 28.769 | 00.131 | 00.009 | 187.702 | |
| 7 | 24 | William Byron |
Chevrolet | 36 | 28.775 | 00.137 | 00.006 | 187.663 | |
| 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney |
Ford | 32 | 28.777 | 00.139 | 00.002 | 187.650 | |
| 9 | 20 | Erik Jones |
Toyota | 35 | 28.792 | 00.154 | 00.015 | 187.552 | |
| 10 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. |
Toyota | 41 | 28.808 | 00.170 | 00.016 | 187.448 | |
| 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch |
Toyota | 39 | 28.813 | 00.175 | 00.005 | 187.415 | |
| 12 | 34 | Michael McDowell |
Ford | 30 | 28.828 | 00.190 | 00.015 | 187.318 | |
| 13 | 8 | Daniel Hemric |
Chevrolet | 54 | 28.837 | 00.199 | 00.009 | 187.259 | |
| 14 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |
Ford | 27 | 28.856 | 00.218 | 00.019 | 187.136 | |
| 15 | 9 | Chase Elliott |
Chevrolet | 42 | 28.871 | 00.233 | 00.015 | 187.039 | |
| 16 | 42 | Kyle Larson |
Chevrolet | 62 | 28.879 | 00.241 | 00.008 | 186.987 | |
| 17 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto |
Toyota | 38 | 28.880 | 00.242 | 00.001 | 186.981 | |
| 18 | 47 | Ryan Preece |
Chevrolet | 28 | 28.886 | 00.248 | 00.006 | 186.942 | |
| 19 | 21 | Paul Menard |
Ford | 35 | 28.888 | 00.250 | 00.002 | 186.929 | |
| 20 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet | 41 | 28.903 | 00.265 | 00.015 | 186.832 | |
| 21 | 22 | Joey Logano |
Ford | 40 | 28.919 | 00.281 | 00.016 | 186.728 | |
| 22 | 41 |  Daniel Suarez |
Ford | 52 | 28.919 | 00.281 | 00.000 | 186.728 | |
| 23 | 37 | Chris Buescher |
Chevrolet | 34 | 28.932 | 00.294 | 00.013 | 186.645 | |
| 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
Chevrolet | 39 | 28.938 | 00.300 | 00.006 | 186.606 | |
| 25 | 6 | Ryan Newman |
Ford | 33 | 28.946 | 00.308 | 00.008 | 186.554 | |
| 26 | 88 | Alex Bowman |
Chevrolet | 53 | 29.036 | 00.398 | 00.090 | 185.976 | |
| 27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
Chevrolet | 28 | 29.036 | 00.398 | 00.000 | 185.976 | |
| 28 | 13 | Ty Dillon |
Chevrolet | 24 | 29.089 | 00.451 | 00.053 | 185.637 | |
| 29 | 38 | David Ragan |
Ford | 34 | 29.194 | 00.556 | 00.105 | 184.970 | |
| 30 | 96 | Parker Kligerman |
Toyota | 20 | 29.201 | 00.563 | 00.007 | 184.925 | |
| 31 | 32 | Corey Lajoie |
Ford | 33 | 29.221 | 00.583 | 00.020 | 184.799 | |
| 32 | 36 | John Hunter Nemechek |
Ford | 40 | 29.410 | 00.772 | 00.189 | 183.611 | |
| 33 | 53 | J.J. Yeley |
Ford | 14 | 29.446 | 00.808 | 00.036 | 183.387 | |
| 34 | 51 | Josh Bilicki |
Chevrolet | 3 | 29.970 | 01.332 | 00.524 | 180.180 | |
| 35 | 66 | Timmy Hill |
Toyota | 2 | 31.567 | 02.929 | 01.597 | 171.065 |
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